5 Things We Know about Christ’s Second Coming

What Is Known

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” (Mark 13:24–27)

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.” (Mark 13:32–33)

What is known about “that day” can be summarized under five headings.

First, Jesus’s second coming will be obvious. When Christ returns, all “the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (Mark 13:25): the sun (“The sun will be darkened”) and the moon (“The moon will not give its light”) will turn off, followed by the stars’ “falling from heaven” (Mark 13:25). These are all obvious indications that something important is afoot.

So too is the new and spectacular light show that will fill the universal dark void: “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds” (Mark 13:26). The darkness is set in contrast to the heavenly “sign” of the Son of Man (Matt. 24:30).¹ We are told that Jesus will descend from heaven (“coming in clouds”) and that this coming will be “with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). Mark states, “And then they will see” (Mark 13:26); Matthew tells us that the “they” are “all the tribes of the earth” (Matt. 24:30), everyone from every nation who is alive on that day.²

But how will everyone alive then, from different parts of the globe, see Jesus at the same time? Perhaps our Lord is speaking metaphorically.³ If so, the point still stands. His return will be obvious. No one will miss it. But if he is speaking literally, then the scene is more remarkable. Think about it. How will everyone see him in the dark—without the light of the sun, moon, or stars? The answer is that the “light of the world” (John 8:12) needs no lesser lights to line his way (cf. Rev. 22:5).

Second, Jesus’s second coming will be awesome. Notice that Jesus uses his favorite title for himself in relation to his second coming. It is the “Son of Man” (Mark 13:26) who will be riding upon the clouds. This title is linked to Daniel 7:13–14 and relates to Jesus’s divinely bestowed authority. In that chapter the Ancient of Days grants the Son of Man a glorious and everlasting kingdom. That is awesome. Jesus will return as the Son of Man, the one who has been granted all authority over all creation (Mark 2:10, 28; cf. Matt. 28:18).

Other details also highlight the awesomeness of Christ’s return. In fact, nearly every phrase of Mark 13:24–27 is brimming with this theme. When Jesus says, in verse 24, “But in those days . . . the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,” he is not talking about a double eclipse; when he mentions in verse 25 “the stars . . . falling from heaven,” he is not talking about a divine firework show that starts with a few shooting stars. Rather he is talking about all the great lights created on day four of creation turning off for good. They will turn off because, as I said, a new and spectacular light show fills the universal dark void: “The Son of Man coming in the clouds” (Mark 13:26). Whatever that awesome cosmic upheaval will look like, it will make Haley’s Comet look like two Boy Scouts rubbing sticks together to make a spark.

The second coming will be awesome.

Third, Jesus’s second coming will bring relief to the righteous; it will be a day of vindication for God’s people. The image of God’s messengers’ (“the angels”) gathering God’s people (“his elect”) from the whole earth (“from the ends of the earth”) and throughout the highest heavens (“to the ends of heaven,” Mark 13:27) is an image not only of God’s power but of his grace. For those who have persevered through persecution (see Mark 13:9–13) final vindication will come with the coming Son.

My first sermon as a pastor was on September 16, 2001, five days after 9/11. My preselected passage was Revelation 19:11–21. I preached a sermon on Jesus’s coming as savior and judge, and I began the sermon like this:

Vengeance has its place in the Christian faith. And it holds not an insignificant, unnecessary, or minor role in our salvation. It is as foundational and as crucial as the biblical concepts of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness because at its center stands our Lord Jesus Christ. When most of us think of Jesus we rarely picture him, as the book of Revelation does, as a holy king, righteous judge, and victorious warrior. In our minds, we have little trouble imagining him as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, as a child teaching in the temple, as a man miraculously walking on water, and as a dying savior. But we struggle to envision Jesus as a mighty conquering king—muscular, fierce, relentless, and vengeful. One reason we may have this difficulty is due either to our ignorance or to our misunderstandings concerning Christ and his second coming. On the one hand, we may simply be uninformed of the details of Christ’s return; on the other hand, we may be able to recite some of the facts of the second coming, yet fail to comprehend its ultimate objective.⁴

The objective of Jesus’s second coming is salvation. Jesus comes to save his people, and he does so in part by judging those who are not his people. Salvation and judgment are linked. We need to know that Jesus’s second coming will bring relief to the righteous, and we need to praise God for that.

Fourth, Jesus’s second coming is certain, as he makes clear in Mark 13:30–31: “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” In the immediate context (see Mark 13:5–23) Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple emphatically (“Truly, I say to you,” Mark 13:30), and sure enough the temple is toppled. Of course, what Jesus says in verses 30–31 we can apply to every word Jesus said.

A number of times in the last five years I have given a talk titled “Why I Am a Christian.” I give four reasons. I talk about Jesus’s irresistible call on my life, the alluring paradox of Jesus’s claims and character, and how Jesus has dealt with and will deal with the three universal problems humans face: sin, death, and injustice. I also talk about the power of his words.

The objective of Jesus’s second coming is salvation.

Nearly two thousand years ago Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). What does history make of this bold statement? Is it true or false? It is true. It is historically verifiable. Let us say there are forty million local churches around the world where over two billion Christians gather each Sunday. In most of those churches, even the unorthodox ones, the words of Jesus are being read and taught. Christians, and some non-Christians, each Sunday morning seek afresh to understand and apply what Jesus said. Can we say this of the words of Socrates, Cicero, Julius Caesar, or Winston Churchill? No! This is not true of any philosopher or politician, and it certainly is not true of celebrities. People are not gathering together each week to try to understand and apply what John Lennon sang or said.

Back to the point. If Jesus’s words are more permanent than the ground below or the sky above (“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away,” Mark 13:31), and if Jesus has a proven track record on a massive prediction in world history—the destruction of the temple (“This generation,” that of his apostles, “will not pass away until all these things take place,” Mark 13:30)—then we can trust that what he says about his return, and the events surrounding it, will likewise occur.

That certainty takes us to the fifth fact. We know the second coming will be (1) obvious, (2) awesome, (3) a day of vindication for God’s people, and (4) certain.

The fifth fact follows: (5) since the temple has been destroyed, we must know that Jesus’s return is imminent. This is what our Lord says with his parabolic teaching in Mark 13:28–29: “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”

Here either Jesus is talking indirectly about his second coming, saying in effect, “As soon as the temple falls, know that there is a possibility, at any time, for my return.” Or, more likely, in these verses Jesus returns to speaking directly about the destruction of the temple and what his earliest followers should do. As soon as they hear the rumble of the Roman troops as they shake the foundation of the holy city (a sign as obvious as a fig tree in spring spouting leaves), they need to do everything Jesus has taught in verses 5–23. So here is how I understand verse 29: “When you see these things taking place [the desolation and destruction of the temple], know that he [or “it,” i.e., “that tribulation”] is near, at the very gates.”

Whatever the case, what Jesus is doing throughout the Olivet Discourse is what scholars call “prophetic foreshortening.” What that means is that Jesus, like the prophets, speaks of two events—one in the near future and another in the distant future—as though they will happen close to each other. For example, Isaiah speaks of the destruction of Babylon in the same breath as he does the final day of the Lord, as though there were one day of divine judgment (“the day of the Lord”) when we know there will be two.

The analogy often used to explain this teaching technique or unique genre is that of a mountain range. If we looked at a mountain range from a distance, it might appear that two peaks were close to each other when in fact they were miles apart. Likewise, Jesus speaks of two mountaintops—the destruction of the temple and his return—as though they were close together when, in reality, they are thousands of years apart.⁵

What to Do in Light of Such Knowledge

In light of those five facts, especially the last one, what are we to do? Jesus tells his disciples and us in Mark 13:33–36. He begins with two similar exhortations: “Be on guard” and “Keep awake” (Mark 13:33). He then says why, reiterating the point of Mark 13:32: “For you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:33). Next, he illustrates, “It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake” (Mark 13:34). That story then morphs into an admonition, one we have heard before: “Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep” (Mark 13:35–36). This admonition is universal, given to both Jesus’s first followers and all since: “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake” (Mark 13:37). Here then is the logic to Jesus’s call to vigilance: if no one knows the time of Christ’s return (“Concerning that day or that hour, no one knows,” Mark 13:32; “You do not know when the time will come,” Mark 13:33), then the hour-by-hour application should be readiness (“Be on guard,” Mark 13:33) and wakefulness (“Keep awake,” Mark 13:33; “Stay awake,” Mark 13:34, 35, 37).

This article is adapted from Expository Reflections on the Gospels, Volume 3: Mark by Douglas Sean O’Donnell.

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